


Captain for a Day

by Captain Natasha Riker-Troi (textsfrompicard)



Category: Star Trek - Various Authors, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Titan
Genre: Adorable, Birthday, Birthday Fluff, Birthday Presents, Cute, Family, Gen, Parent-Child Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:54:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26706310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/textsfrompicard/pseuds/Captain%20Natasha%20Riker-Troi
Summary: Natasha Riker-Troi gets to visit the bridge for her fourth birthday. Inspired by the prompt 'captain's chair'.
Relationships: William Riker/Deanna Troi
Comments: 5
Kudos: 18
Collections: Trektober 2020





	Captain for a Day

“Okay, everybody, look sharp!” Captain Will Riker paced hurriedly from bridge station to bridge station, peering over everyone’s shoulders and generally creating a minor flurry of activity in his wake. “Remember, we have a special guest today.”

“Yes, we know,” said Vale dryly. The first officer rolled her eyes up at Riker from her customary seat to the right of the captain’s chair. “You’ve only reminded us several _dozen_ times per day this week.”

“Hey, it never hurts to be prepared.”

“There is such a thing as _over_ -preparing, you know.”

“This is my daughter’s birthday we’re talking about, Christine. There’s no such thing as over-preparing in this case.”

Vale was about to retort, but just then the turbolift doors whooshed open and out came Commander Deanna Troi leading her and Riker’s now-four-year-old daughter by the hand. “Future captain on the bridge, everyone,” the counselor announced with a smile.

“Daddy!” Tasha exclaimed, tugging her hand out of her mother’s grip and scampering over to her father, who picked her up and swung her around as she giggled hysterically. “Happy birthday again, sweetheart,” he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek as he set her back down. “Welcome to the bridge.”

As Tasha looked around with wide, innocent eyes, the first thing she saw was the viewscreen. She let out a gasp of astonishment and darted forward until her hands and nose were pressed right up against it. It was enormous! Even bigger than the windows in their quarters, and she thought _those_ had been the biggest windows she had ever seen. The stars seemed to zip past them in a shimmering blur as she peered at them with unbridled fascination. “How fast are we going?” she asked without turning around.

“Lieutenant?” Riker gestured to the helm officer, Aili Lavena. The Selkie shifted in her hydration suit as she called up the relevant information on the display. “Our speed is warp 4.5, and our heading is 245 mark 67, on course to the Brelnak system.”

“What’s in the Brelnak system?” asked Tasha, tearing her eyes away from the viewscreen at last.

“We don’t know,” her father said, his eyes twinkling. “That’s why we’re going there, to find out.” He took her by the hand and began leading her around the duty stations, having each crew member explain their station and duties. Tasha kept up a steady stream of questions all the way around the bridge, until at last they reached the dedication plaque at the rear, next to the turbolift where Tasha and Deanna had come in. Always eager to show off her burgeoning skills, she insisted on reading the plaque out loud, and Will lifted her up until she was eye level with it. “U.S.S. Titan, Luna class, Starfleet registry NCC-80102, Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards, Mars, Launched Stardate 56979.5, United Federation of Planets…” 

She recited every word with singular care, stumbling a bit over ‘Utopia Planitia’, and slogged doggedly through the long list of individuals who were involved in Titan’s construction, her eyes lighting up with recognition when she got to the name of Titan’s chief engineer, Commander Xin Ra-Havreii. At last she reached the quote at the bottom of the plaque. “In--” she stopped abruptly. She had never seen that word before in her life. Noticing her hesitation, Commander Tuvok was about to jump in, but Deanna shushed him with a wave of her arm. Raising an eyebrow, he conceded, and remained silent.

Tasha continued to sound out the quote on the plaque. “In-- inf-- infinite di-- diversity in infinite combinations.” She paused again and looked up at her father. “What does that mean?”

Will smiled and looked at Tuvok. “Would you care to explain, Commander?”

Tuvok raised an eyebrow at Troi, who gave him a _look_. He lowered his eyebrow and outlined to Tasha as best he could the words of Surak and the philosophy of Vulcan. Tasha’s eyes widened with delighted understanding. “Like Titan!” she exclaimed. The U.S.S. Titan had the most biologically varied and culturally diverse crew in Starfleet history, and a wide variety of humanoid and non-humanoid species called it home; humans were in fact a minority on the vessel. It was clear why the captain had chosen that particular quote to go on the plaque.

“Exactly,” Will said, exchanging a proud smile with his wife. They made their way down to the command well and sat in their respective chairs, little Tasha perched neatly upon Will’s left knee. He pulled up the controls on the arm of his chair and started to show Tasha what each of them did when a warble sounded from the science station. “Captain, there’s a plasma storm directly between us and the Brelnak system,” said Commander Melora Pazlar. “Sending data to helm console.”

“Received,” said Lavena. Her hydration suit bubbled as she calculated the new course. “New heading, 360 mark 49. If we maintain our current speed, we should arrive in the Brelnak system only a few hours later than anticipated.”

“Very good,” said Riker. “Carry on.” He looked between his wife and his first officer with a chuckle. “Can’t get away from inclement weather, even in space.”

“I hope the storm isn’t going to interfere with the surveys,” said Vale, glancing back at the science station.

“No worries, Commander,” said Pazlar. “Titan’s sensors are top-notch.”

“Still, I’d prefer it if we went as far around as possible and approached the system from the other side. No sense in courting disaster, especially after the damage we took from that micrometeroid shower last week. Better to be safe than sorry.”

Tasha was listening to all of this avidly, and she felt that she ought to contribute to the conversation in some way. She _was_ the birthday girl, after all, and a future Starfleet captain. “How long will the increment weather last?” she asked.

“Plasma storms typically--” Pazlar broke off abruptly. “Come again?” Tasha repeated her question, and this time everyone clearly heard the phrase ‘increment weather’. Everyone except for Tuvok immediately suppressed the urge to say ‘ _awwwww_ ’, and the Vulcan’s hearing picked up the operations officer, Sariel Rager, whispering to Lavena, “she’s so _cute_ I can’t even--” Apparently, she could not ‘even’ finish a sentence.

Tuvok opened his mouth, intending to correct the child. “Natasha, the--” He abruptly changed course mid-sentence as Will and Deanna turned to glare at him in unison. “--plasma storms typically last approximately eight to seventeen hours, depending on their size. It is impossible to say how much longer this one will last, since we do not know when it started.”

Tasha nodded, satisfied, and settled back into her father’s lap. He ruffled her hair and kissed the top of her head, and exchanged a look with his wife, their eyes shining.

“Captain, the plasma storm is changing course,” interjected Lavena. “It’s moving very rapidly in an irregular path away from the system. Recommend we come to a full stop in order to calculate a new course around it, sir.”

Riker nodded. “Proceed.” Lavena did, and within five minutes she had a new course. “Ready to go on your word, sir.” 

Riker lifted his finger in dramatic Picard fashion, which he didn’t normally do, but he felt an obligation to put on a show for Tasha. “En--”

“Can I say it?”

He stopped abruptly and looked down at Tasha, who looked up at him eagerly, her eyes wide and insistent. Looking at his wife again, he grinned. “Go right ahead. In fact--” and he got up, setting Tasha back down so that she was seated alone in the captain’s chair. He then proceeded to remove each of his four pips from his collar and place them one by one on Tasha’s shirt. “There, now it’s official.”

It was technically _Tasha’s_ birthday, but as he watched the look of pure joy that spread across his daughter’s face, Will felt as though _he_ had been the one who was given a gift. “Go ahead, sweetheart.”

Tasha immediately sat up straighter in the chair, trying to imitate her father’s posture as much as possible, which was no small feat, given the fact that her feet didn’t even reach the ground. She lifted her finger just as he had, and enthusiastically swept it forward. “Engage!”


End file.
